For A Troubled Man and a Short Tempered Boy
by Survey-Corps-Officer
Summary: Edward Elric is a poor boy who works three jobs to help keep him and his brother Alphonse off the streets and in school. Roy Mustang is a rich kid who's popular at school and is a womanizer, however he's not quite so into girls as he's played out to be. What happens when Edward has to transfer schools and the two collide? Please read and review. And yes, it is a boy x boy.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Full Metal Alchemist. The anime and charcters belong to the original owner, I only own the original idea for the plot in this fanfic.

Ed was a poor boy who lived with his brother Alphonse in a one bedroom appartment. It was the smallest appartment in the town they lived in. Sure, they could have went to live with their childhood friend, Winry and her grandma, but Ed and Al didn't want to cause them more trouble than they already have. If they wanted anything, they wanted a better life. Ed works three jobs, manages school, and takes care of his brother. Al has offered countless times to go get a job but Ed insists that Al focus on school. After all Al, is only in eighth grade, while Ed is in his sophomore year, so Al needs good grades. One of the sad things in this situation, is the teachers nor any adult for that matter, seem to care about Ed and Al living in the poorest area of town, this is also the part of town that has the highest crime rate. As for the parents, Ed nd Al's mom died when they were young, and their father was a drunk who finally just gave up on them and left them to be, but not after causing Ed so much injury in his right arm that he had to have it amputated with auto-mail. They didn't have to pay for it either because Winry and her grandma were the ones to put it on for him.

Roy is a popular boy at school who always has the girls running after him. Problem is that he's not quite into girls so much. Roy has everything from an elaborate car to a huge mansion. Everything he owns is namebrand. His parents are always gone, but he gets to video chat with them everyday. He has all the friends in the world. He has maids, butlers, oh and he has a dog. It's really his mom and dads more, but he loves Roy as well. He has a girlfriend named Riza. He just doesn't want to be a jerk and hurt her feelings. Plus it only made him seem even more of a womenizer. Roy Mustang has everything in the world.

That is, until Edward Elric transfers to his school.


	2. Not A Permanent Goodbye

_Ring! Ring! _I swear that better be the alarm clock. Because if someone's ringing that damn doorbell, so help me I'll kill them. I forced open my eyes and looked to me right to see my alarm clock say it was five in the morning. An hour before it was supposed to go off. I throw on a pair of black pants and a black shirt while walking to the door. After looking through the peephole, I saw the landlord. Great, what the hell does he want? I've paid everything on time.

"Ed Elric right?" I don't recall giving him permission to be calling me Ed.

"Edward, yes. May I help you?" I tried being as polite as possible, but I don't think anyone would be happy at being woke up at five in the morning unless necessary either.

"Sorry, yes Edward. I have a notification paper for you. I'll explain it for you, you have twenty days to move out and have this apartment empty. Otherwise you'll be moved out by the police and will not be able to obtain any of your belongings. Does this all make sense?" Is this man nuts?

"Umm, yes. But why do we need to move out? I've made sure all my payments are on time, nothings ever been late, and it's always been paid in full, so why do we have to leave exactly?"

"Were the conditions in your lease not explained? Once your lease ends for the apartment, you have to move out unless you sign another lease at least a month in advance to the end of the lease." You're joking right? There was never anything like that in my lease at all.

"No, nothing like that was ever in the lease nor was it ever explained as such." The landlord just shrugged and walked away. WHAT THE HELL? Well, I have a phone call to make then. I went back into the apartment and called my boss for my waiting job.

"Hello? This is Hughes speaking how may I help you?" So I was right on the time.

"Hello sir. This is Edward Elric speaking, your waiter." I was going to loose my cool eventually here.

"Oh Ed! Hello, what's got you calling me at five thirty?"

"Well sir, I was wondering if you still had that spot open for my brother to stay at?" I can go find somewhere, but Al will have a bed to sleep on.

"Ed? Did something happen? Never mind, you can tell me when you're ready. Anyways, yes I do. When did you want to stop by?"

"Can I bring him by this morning? He'll be leaving for school around seven."

"Sure, sure. That's fine. I'll be here." After thanking him and hanging up I went into Al's bedroom to wake him up.

"Al, hey. Wake up." Al's a light sleeper so it's easy to wake him up.

"Ed? It's not time to get up yet. It's only twenty to six."

"The landlord stopped by this morning and gave us twenty days to get out. But I've got a place for you to stay at okay? Get your clothes and backpack. We're heading out in ten." It's not like it would take us very long for us to get our stuff packed. We'd have it done within two minutes if even, but I and Al try to make it seem like we weren't as bad as we really were. I at the very least know that Al will be safe and taken care of and everything he needs. I'll just have to figure something out. Al had his backpack and small drawstring bag that contained his four outfits, his toothpaste/toothbrush, brush, and an extra pair of socks. I knew what was all in there because at times when Al get's sick I usually have to pack the bag for him when we've stayed overtime. I had my backpack with all my school stuff in it, as for my clothes, I wore the same thing everyday. I wore a black tanktop, black skinny jeans, reddish black boots, and my trademark red coat. I had had that coat for as long as I can remember, I think it was the very first piece of clothing I had ever got, and I have kept it in great shape despite all the damage done to myself from fights with fellow neighbors. So, at the time of ten to six, we left our old apartment and moved Al into Hughes extra room. I had actually been giving Hughes half of my paycheck to go towards Al's rent so he could focus on school and not worry about having to pay back anyone. Al simply thinks that I've been spending a little over half of my check on food and school stuff. Which is halfway true.

"Brother, do you think that everyone will be okay with me staying there? I don't want to be a bother to anyone." Sigh, leave it to Al to think that he would be a bother to anyone. Honestly, the most I have ever asked of him is that he keep his grades up and focus on school and having friends. He has one true friend and I know she is his true friend and that's Mei. She never judges a person based on how they dress or where they're from or anything as such. A sweet girl she is.

"Al, how many times have I told you before that you are not a bother to anyone? Everyone loves you and thinks that you're really awesome, please though promise me something?" I waited for a response, and Al gave a slight nod of his head and said ok.

"Promise me that you will keep up your grades and promise me that you won't do what anyone else in our life has." I heard Al stop walking and I turned around to see what had made him stop walking. He had tears in the corner of his eyes and his mouth was agape. I felt bad, but he'd understand eventually. Not now, but maybe later on. After a few struggles I finally got Al to follow me to Hughes place. I explained the situation to him and he understood. I left a small note on Hughes's desk and left. I don't do well with goodbyes, even if this one isn't permanent.

_Dear Hughes,_

_Tell Al I am so sorry, words cannot explain how sorry I am. I couldn't stay to say good bye, they are too painful for me, and almost like a death sentence to Al. But please tell him this is not a permanent goodbye. I will be back, just keep your promise and don't wait for me._

_Love,_

_Edward Elric_


	3. I Hate To Leave You, But I Have To

I hated to leave, I really did. But it had to be done. As soon as I have something figured out I'll come get Al. But I don't want him sleeping in parks as I do. Which reminds me, the mornings are getting colder and colder, and it's only been a few days. I curl back into a ball and as I do, I hear footsteps. Probably some sort of passerby, however the poking and prodding on my head tells me otherwise. I lift my head up to see who it is, if it's the police I'm in some serious trouble. However, I come to face coal black eyes, midnight black hair that's a bit messy and a strong and bold face. The boy didn't look like he was that old, so he was probably either my age or a bit older.

"Say, are you going to just sit there and freeze? I'm pretty sure your folks are worried about you. 'Sides, why're you out here of all places, people could spot that coat of yours a mile away." I really didn't like this boy in the slightest. He acted like the kind of people that I just hate.

"Fuck off already. Just lemme alone." So with that, I curled my head back into my ball. I heard something drop and footsteps walking away. When I was sure that he was gone, I lifted my head and looked around on the ground and found a plastic bag with something in it. I pulled the bag up and looked inside. It was a sandwich that was bought from a store and there were two bottles of water in it. I poked my head out of the cylinder that I was laying in and saw that the boy was nowhere to be found. So I opened one bottle of water and had that gone within a few minutes, the sandwich didn't even last that long. When I saw the price however, I wished I had never even looked upon it. I didn't even have that much in my pocket. A seven dollar sandwich. Oh hell, I'm in so much trouble. What if he didn't mean for me to eat it and when he came back later he looked for it, found out I ate it and called the police! Crap! Looking in my pocket, I found that I had five dollars. Okay, so somehow I have to get two more. So I ran up and down the streets looking for change that people dropped that would maybe add up to two dollars. It was nearing sundown and I had only found a dollar. I still needed a dollar more! I started pulling at my hair as I sat back down on the outside of the cylinder. I couldn't believe I was so stupid. Suddenly I found another person's hands tugging on the hands that were pulling on my hair.

"Your hair is too amazing to be pulling on it like a dog does a chew toy." I flinched back really fast I kept thinking that it was _him_. However I saw the same coal black eyes and midnight black hair from this morning. I frantically pulled out the five and few cents I had and slid near him enough that I could put the six dollars in front of him. As soon as I did, I slid back to a safe distance that would be difficult to get me. I may have been in the wrong, but I didn't want to die yet. He looked at it quizzically, not quite sure of it's purpose.

"I'll get your other two dollars tomorrow. I don't have it all right now." It was like he had been hit with a meteor, he finally got what it's purpose was.

"You do realize that you didn't have to pay me back right? I have enough money to afford these kinds of things. And you look like you could seriously use some food. So how about you let me get you something?" Either he was being kind or sympathetic. Or it was a trap, just like _that_ time. I shook my head.

"Nope. I know what you're up to. I'm not going to fall for it either." I moved back even further.

"Oh? And what am I up to exactly?" He raised an eyebrow at me while giving a cocky attitude.

"You play Mr. Nice Guy and then you either kidnap me to use for various things, or you end up killing me." I wasn't dealing with it right now. Nope.

"Well, if you want to consider me asking you to dinner as me kidnapping you, then go ahead. But I'm going to tell you, I hate, despise, and would love to kill people who would do that to anyone. So ya." He kinda looked over to the side as he said 'so ya', but he looked me dead in the eye as he said everything else. So either he's amazing at lying or he's telling the truth.

"Depends on where you're talking, because I really do not trust you. Hell, I don't trust anyone really. But that is besides the point." As he pondered it over in his head, I looked at his choice of clothing. It was a uniform from a private school I passed a few times today looking for money. He was a rich kid. While he was lost in space thinking, I took the chance to bolt. I ran away as far I could. After a while I found a good size tree and I climbed up it and sat against the trunk while sitting on a pretty thick branch. That boy from earlier was at the base of the tree and was yelling up to me.

"Hey! Why'd you run off? You should get down from there, it'll be dark soon and getting down from a tree in the dark is dangerous!" I shook my head even if he couldn't see me. So after about five minutes or so, he finally left and went the opposite way I had ran. Before I knew it, it was morning. I hadn't slept at all, he was right about one thing, being in a tree at night it very dangerous and if you fall asleep, you'll be lucky to wake up in the morning. So I climbed down, nearly missed my footing a few times due to lack of sleep and saw that I had ran to a big tree in the center of the academy I passed by yesterday. I saw a young women with blonde hair and a blue uniform walking up to the door. I ran up to her yelling to hold up a second. I finally caught up to her and asked her a few questions.

"Do you know who I would talk to about enrolling here?" The young lady somewhat laughed.

"Yes I do. You're speaking with her right now. Please come inside." As soon as we walked in the doors, I saw just how amazing it really was. there were no cracked walls, it had spiral stair cases, carpeted floors, gold spiraling staircases. Windows that were huge and some were stained glass. Others were just plain see through windows. There was a crystal chandelier that was hanging from the center that lighted the room up in a soft glow of light. Lining the sides of the staircases were lamp like lights. The whole place was just amazing.

"You act as though you've never been in a place such as this. Have you not?" I heard the lady ask.

"Umm, can we talk about this somewhere else please?" I had taken into notice that there were a few students there already and they were all looking at me weirdly. I noticed however, that some of them were wearing uniforms and others were wearing regular clothing. So as we walked to who knows where, I took in more of the sight. It was so much like the front entrance it was scary. Finally we stopped in front of a door that read: **Ms. Riza Hawkeye. **As she entered without knocking first I assumed she was . She sat down in a chair behind a desk and motioned for me to sit in a chair in front of her. As I did, I noticed how comfortable chairs could really be.

"So you are interested in our school. Care to explain what sparked your interest?" Honestly, nothing really did, ya the rich stuff was amazing, but that's not why.

"Honestly, sure the flashy stuff like in the entrance way was really amazing, but that isn't why. I want to go here because I want to be in school and I heard you guys have very good education. It's like that." Ms. Hawkeye seemed a bit surprised that it was because I wanted to come here over an education. I think.

"Is that so. And how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen. Turning seventeen in a few months." She seemed to think it over a bit.

"How about your name?"

"I'm Edward Elric." She, I now noticed, was writing these things down.

"Have you ever been held back a year?" I shook my head. Nope, if anything I had honors in all of my classes.

"I see, are you new to the area?"

"Yes, you could say that."

"Do you have a job?" Crap.

"I'm in the process of looking for one." She nodded again before speaking.

"Okay Mr. Elric. I'll tell you a bit about our school and it's customs for it. We are a very proud school who take in only the best of the best. See, here, like most schools, you have a fee usually to pay. However, we give you one month to prove a few things. A deal we have here is that the higher your grade, the cheaper it is to be here. So say you have an F over all, you'll have to pay all 23,000 to be here. However, if you have an A overall, and have A's in all your classes, you don't have to pay anything. We also have several classes to choose from for whatever suits you. We also have uniforms as I'm sure you noticed, but you only have to wear them on days that are needed for uniforms, like a field trip, picture day, school spirit day, you get the picture. So then, from just that, do you still want to join our school?" She gave a cocky smile as though she expected me to say 'Oh no! This is most certainly not the school for me!" However, my response was.

"Oh no! This is most certainly the school for me!" She looked at me like she had saw something unsightly. However then she smiled a very sweet smile.

"Well then, Mr. Elric, we look forward to having you at our school. You can get your uniform now, or you can get it after school. You don't need to wear it today." I simply nodded my head.

"Thanks, I'll get it after school." Ms. Hawkeye smiled again and motioned for me to follow her. So I did. After walking what felt like forever, she led me to this classroom and knocked on the door. After a minute, the door opened and a man who looked like he was in his middle twenties answered and raised an eyebrow.

"Ms. Hawkeye? And to what do I owe this lovely visit?" They both clearly didn't like each other, however they kind of acted like they were the best of friends. I watched as 's eye twitched and she forced a smile on her face as she introduced me.

"Yes, Mr. Marcoh, this would be a new student of yours. His name is Edward Elric. He just transferred here today and I wanted to get him situated as fast as possible. I was thinking perhaps you would be kind enough to lend me a student of yours who will take good enough care of Mr. Elric here and to show him around our school." Mr. Marcoh was a bit of a big man on the short side. He was definitely nearing old age, and he had a haircut with his black hair shaved underneath and a bit on the long side was the top half of his hair with points coming out on each side. He was wearing a white button up top with a red tie and black pants like my own but more on the professional side. He glared at me and then, if even possible, his glare got even more threatening.

"Mind to explain why a slob like his self is here? Because this is a great school, and I won't let his indecency tear down our name." Ms. Hawkeye just smiled and looked from me to Mr. Marcoh.

"You know what, you're right Mr. Marcoh. I do where slobish like clothes because this is all I happen to have, so I'll leave now before I cause you anymore problems. I'm sorry for any inconvenience I've caused." I turned on my heels to walk away and I got about five feet before someone grabbed onto my hood. I froze for a second, then I spazzed because I kept thinking, 'Oh my god, he's back and this time he really will kill me.' Then my captor pulled me back to them and wrapped their arms under my arms to pick me up off the ground. I calmed a bit because I didn't want to somehow fall and nearly die. I turned my head to see that it was the boy from the park and it seemed like he was everywhere, including when I actually slept.

"Mr. Elric, this is Mr. Roy Mustang. He will be your guide today around the school and will hopefully be your friend. Okay Mustang, you may go show him around now, I have business to attend to with Mr. Marcoh here." Mustang looked a lot more happy then should have been necessary after Ms. Hawkeye told him so.

"Okay, I'll take the most of the best care of him possible Mam'." And with that Mustang let me down and still had a hold on to one of my arms. Actually, he had a hold onto my real arm, so that's a good thing….I think. We walked around and around, him pointing out various things, the Library, the cafeteria, the different classrooms, the teachers lounge, the counseling office, bathrooms, etc. The final thing he showed me was what turned both of our worlds into an uproar. We were in a clearing of sorts on the school premises, but we were a ways away from the school, so I couldn't call for help if I needed it. We came to a tree that had a bench made of concrete under it. It had the schools name imprinted on it, **Academy of Philosophy**. We sat down and I wanted to fall asleep already, going a half a night without sleep, then having to look for change the next day, then not sleeping the next night at all for fear of falling out of the damned tree, then having to walk around the entire day at your new school certainly takes a toll on you. As we sat there, I was starting to get on edge a little bit because I wasn't used to silence. Just as I was about to say something, Mustang turned to face me and asked me a question.

"Hey, Ed, how come you always run from me? I want to be your friend, hell, I want to help you, but you keep running from me and I can't help you. Please Ed, tell me what's going on." I don't know why, and I may never know why, but I told him almost everything. From the time mine and Al's mom died and our dad leaving us, and then my accident that caused me to lose two limbs, about Winry and Granny, about my brother and how I had to leave him, about living from apartment to apartment, about the various fights I've been in, about the various schools and neighborhoods, everything except about _him_, and what _he_ did to me. By the time I had finished, it was getting to be pretty late, not late late, just probably around five or so.

"Ed, I had no idea that a person could go through a bunch of things like that. You have literally seen what Hell looks like. I am so sorry Ed." Mustang suddenly wrapped both arms around me pulling me to his chest and held on tight. I felt something drip onto my head and felt it snake it's way down my head and face, Mustang was crying. He was crying, for me. But why? He had done nothing wrong. I cautiously wrapped my small arms around him and just rested there for who knows how long. Then his voice wrapped the air in a thick fog.

"Aww, look at that. Little Edward has found a new playmate for me. How cute you two will look in my games." I froze, I couldn't have dreamed this could I? I know I didn't fall asleep, but how the hell is he here? I felt Mustang hold on even tighter and then stand up.

"Who are you and what are you doing on the school grounds? And what do you want with Edward?" Mustang was seriously mad, I could tell in the way he had a slight growl to his voice.

"Well there are various things you could call me. You can call me Ed's playmate, you could call me Ed's special person, or you can call me Ed's rapist since that's what everyone insists that I am. Now Eddie, come along with me and we shall continue our fun and no one will have to get hurt again." I froze even more if even possible. I raised my head a bit to the man of my nightmares.

"No one will be hurt again? Promise?" He just smirked a bit.

"But of course, as long as you do as I say and not put up a fuss, I promise you, no one will be hurt in this. I swear." I didn't want anyone getting hurt again like those kids did, so I guess this is the only way to do it. I took a step forward, but Mustang grabbed my arm in a way of trying to stop me.

"Ed, no you can't go back to whatever he did. Please Ed, I refuse to let you go." I used my automail arm to punch him in the stomach. Mustang, kind of hunched over before falling, I kneeled down next to him and looked him in the eyes.

"Mustang, you don't get it do you? If I don't go and do as he says people who're innocent will be hurt. I can't allow that to happen again when I can prevent it, okay? Thanks for showing me around the school and listening to my stupid problems when you didn't need to." Roy raised a shaky hand to my face, with his pain stricken face, you could have thought that he was dying, but he was fighting to stay conscious. I've done this enough to know the difference.

"Ed…." With that he passed out. I put my coat over him so he'd at least stay somewhat warm and walked over to the man whom I hated more than my life, and that was saying something.

"Alright Eddie, let's go." He grabbed onto me and pulled and pushed me along to his car. Goodbye Roy Mustang.


End file.
